For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this?
Ver. 14. But if thou altogether boldest thy peace] And so make thyself guilty of a sinful silence, nay, of the death of so many innocents; for not to do good when it is in the power of a man's hand is to do evil, and not to save is to destroy, as our Saviour showeth, Mark 3:14. Qui non cum potest, servat; occidit. Passive wickedness is deeply taxed in some of those seven Churches, Rev. ii., iii. In a storm at sea it is a shame to sit still, or to be asleep, with Jonah, in the sides of the ship, when it is in danger of drowning. Every man cannot sit at the stern; but then he may handle the ropes, or manage the oars, &c. The self-seeker, the private spirited man, may he be but warm in is own feathers, regards not the danger of the house; he is totus in se, entirely in himself, like the snail, still within doors and at home; like the squirrel, he ever digs his hole towards the sunrising; his care is to keep on the warm side of the hedge, to sleep in a whole skin, to save one, whatever become of the many. From doing thus, Mordecai deterreth Esther by a heap of holy arguments; discovering a heroical faith and a well-knit resolution.
At this time] There is indeed a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, Ecclesiastes 3:7. But if ever a man will speak, let him do it when the enemies are ready to devour the Church: as Croesus's dumb son burst out into, Kill not King Croesus. "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest," &c., Isaiah 62:1. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth," &c., Psalms 137:5,6. That noble Terentius (general to Valens the emperor) being bidden to ask what he would, asked nothing, but that the Church might be freed from Arians; and when the emperor, upon a defeat by the Goths, upbraided him with cowardice and sloth as the causes of the overthrow, he boldly replied, Yourself have lost the day, by your warring against God, and persecuting his people (Niceph.).
Then shall their enlargement] Heb. Respiration, a day of refreshing should come from the presence of the Lord. Confer Job 9:18. At present they could hardly breathe, for bitterness of spirit.
And deliverance arise] Heb. stand up, as on its basis or bottom, so as none shall be able to withstand. This, Mordecai speaketh, not by a spirit of prophecy, but by the force of his faith, grounded upon the promises of God's defending his Church, hearing the cries of his afflicted, arising to their relief and succour, &c. Mira profecto ac omnibus linguis, saeculis, locisque commendabilis fides, saith one. A notable faith indeed, and worthy of highest commendation. Through the perspective of the promises (those pabulum fidei, food of faith) a believer may see deliverance at a great distance (Aσπασαμενοι); see it and embrace it, as those did, Hebrews 11:13. What though Sense saith, it will not be; Reason, it cannot be; yet Faith gets above, and says, it shall be, I spy land.
Italiam, Italiam laeto clamore salutat (Virg.).
But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed] Here he thundereth and threateneth her, if to save herself she shall desert the Church. Mordecai's message, like David's ditty, is composed of discords. Sour and sweet make the best sauce; promises and menaces mixed will soonest work, Psalms 101:1. God told Abraham, that for the love he bare him, he would bless those that blessed him, and curse such as cursed him, Genesis 12:3. Their sin should find them out, and they should rue it in their posterity. As one fire, so one fear, should drive out another.
And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom] There is often a wheel within a wheel, Ezekiel 1:16. God may have an end and an aim in businesses that we wot not of nor can see into, till event hath explained it. Let us lay forth ourselves for him, and labour to be public spirited, standing on tiptoes, Aποκαραδοκια , Php 1:20 as St Paul did, to see which way we may most glorify God, and gratify our brethren.